In 2008 a number of burial pits dating from the First World War were identified at Fromelles in northern France.

In memory of the fallen of Formelles

Archaeologists began to excavate the pits in May 2009 and by early September they had carefully removed the remains of 250 British and Australian soldiers, buried behind German lines after the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916.

The British and Australian governments asked the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to oversee the operation to recover the remains and to create a new cemetery at Fromelles for their reburial.

A special commemorative event will be held on Monday 19 July 2010, in the northern French village of Fromelles, to mark the completion of the archaeological excavation and reinterment of 250 British and Australian soldiers, who died at the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916.

This event will take place in Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery, which is currently being built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  Interest in attending this event is likely to be high, but because of the size of the cemetery site, space will be very limited.  A small viewing area, to allow members of the public to watch the ceremony, is envisaged, but details have yet to be confirmed.

To find out further details or to register your interest in attending this event please visit the CWGC website.

Images used in this article are reproduced with the kind permission of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

More information

BBC News article – Fromelles artifacts

CWGC – Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Australian War Memorial website

The aim of The War Graves Photographic Project is to photograph every war grave, individual memorial, MoD grave, and family memorial of serving military personnel from WWI to the present day and make these available within a searchable database.

Now working as a joint venture with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, this will enable families, scholars and researchers to obtain, via the CWGC or TWGPP websites, a copy of the photograph of a grave or memorial which for many is impossible to visit due to the location.

This service has only been made possible through the efforts of a dedicated group of volunteers, from all walks of life, who feel the need to Remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice and who realise the importance for families to see where their loved ones are laid to rest or commemorated. This emulates the CWGC ethos to ‘Remember in Perpetuity’

This project aims to photograph in excess of 1.75 million graves or memorials from Commonwealth Nations and many from other military forces around the world.

Use the search facility to check if a photograph is currently held and available but please remember that the CWGC records hold 1.75 million casualties so there is still a little more work to do before the archive can be considered complete.